A Thousand Miles (NatsumeXMikan)
by seeyouontheflipside01
Summary: She remembers everything, regardless of what they thought they'd said. He's still alive, but she doesn't know that. Miles separate them. What will they do to see eachother again, and how will they cope with the hard facts of separation? Partially based on the song "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton. Rated T for mild cursing and cautionary for future chapters... R&R


Prologue

He reached his hand out. Every fiber of my being screamed "_NO! Your life at the academy was the best you ever had! Class Rep? Tsubasa-senpai? Natsume-kun?" _I cried. They all did so much for me. I couldn't lose this memory. The school said I had no nullification Alice left, but maybe I did. Maybe I could summon the last drop in me. So I tried with all my might to nullify the memory-altering Alice's attempts. I forgot everything anyways. Turns out I might have nullified it a bit.

Days later, lying in bed at my home feeling something important was missing from my life, a vital part of me, it hit me in the gut.

Alice Academy. Hotaru-chan. Narumi-sensei. Tsubasa-senpai.

_Natsume-kun._

I ran outside onto the porch, across the dewy midnight grass, and onto a small hill under a Sakura tree. The moist night air hugged my face and billowed my dress, wiping the tears from my face as they fell one by one. I faced the harsh wind, pressed my cold fingers into a trembling fist, and screamed into the heavens.

Natsume was out there. But was he dead? He never came back to Alice Academy while I was there, so how would I ever know? Hotaru was out there. Was she dead as well? Were my best friends, the only people that kept me sane, stars up there with my parents, longing to hug me from behind the sky? I fell to my knees, trying to see the good in my situation but failing. I'd been given a taste of the good life, and it had been so cruelly taken from me when I was positive things might turn out well. Hotaru and I could go shopping someday. I could get that ranch for Ruka-pyon. Natsume-kun and I could be together forever like we'd planned.

But no. That world had been shut off from me, and I didn't even know if the people I cared most about were still alive.

And I was helpless to ever find them again.

* * *

Chapter 1:

(Years later…)

* * *

"_**Making my way downtown**_

_**Walking fast**_

_**Faces pass**_

_**And I'm home bound**_

_**Staring blankly ahead**_

_**Just making my way**_

_**Making a way**_

_**Through the crowd**_

_**And I need you**_

_**And I miss you"**_

* * *

I still remember that day. I died. I swear I died.

But then it happened all over again. Suddenly I was alive. The purple-eyed girl saved me. But I had no idea where Mikan was. I laid in the hospital staring at the ceiling, counting the holes on the cheap tile laid across it. Nobody came to visit me. The Academy didn't even know I was alive until I came back.

But the purple-eyed girl was gone.

Slowly I realized I was slightly taller, my hair a helluva lot longer, and my classmates were different too. That special-class teacher of Mikan's, the time-tripper, told me it had taken me this long to "regenerate" or something in the real world.

I'd been stuck in limbo for 2 years, and Hotaru had screwed herself up in order for me and Mikan to be together forever.

_What a load of bull._

Don't get me wrong, I loved Hotaru-chan for saving me.

But the teachers cut me no slack whatsoever. There were changes around the academy, thanks to that ray of light we'd had for awhile, but I wasn't allowed to leave to find her. It was keeping her safe, leading this life they'd devised for her. If Hotaru had screwed with my fate, then this was even more screwed up. Mikan was living a false life and lost everything she'd worked so hard to accomplish, the unlikely friendships she'd forged. It was the first time I'd felt genuinely happy since I'd lost Aoi, the night she promised she'd be with me forever.

The academy broke that promise.

"I don't care what the damn academy thinks, Ruka." I growled, hacking off the mop on my head. Apparently you still aged in time-warps.

Who knew.

Ruka shifted on my new senior-division bed.

"I know, Natsume, I get it too…" he muttered, stroking the head of a cat. "But there's nothing we can do about it. Best we can do is wait." I slammed my shears down on the table, half of my uncut hair hanging over my face as I looked at the floor, my arms supporting me on the desk. "Ruka, she's living a false life. Whatever they've made her, it's not who she is. She's probably dating some pervert and planning to get married and doesn't remember a damn thing of the most important part of her life. About us." I said, fighting back the tears stinging my crimson eyes. Ruka cried openly. "I know, Natsume, I get it…" he moaned, hugging the poor cat to death. "Besides Mikan, I'm so happy to see you, Natsume. The Academy has kept it deathly quiet what happened to you, so we all assumed you were dead." I sighed, not even noticing only half of my head was cut to a decent length. "I'm sorry if I scared you. Hopefully nothing like that happens again," I frowned, looking out the window at the sparkling morning sun on the frosty grounds. "I've got some talking to do," I muttered, practically talking to myself now. Ruka was simply staring out my window with a faraway look in his eyes. I shook my head, hoping the guy wasn't as depressed about life as he seemed at this point.

"Narumi-sensei, I will burn the school if you don't tell me where she is," I threatened, holding my arm out so as to summon flames. He shook his head and laughed. "While I don't doubt your power, Natsume, we both know it'd be idiotic for you to use your power right now. And like I mentioned before, we can't tell you." He grinned at me, emitting his dumb girly pheromones. I shook my head, far from fainting as I had before. Young kids faint when they haven't tasted love.

And… Yeah. I might be experienced in that field now.

"Narumi-sensei, knock that crap off. Maybe that was an empty threat but you have to tell me where she is!" I begged, throwing any toughness I was trying to show and feeling like a young schoolboy again. Narumi-sensei's eyes softened. "Natsume-kun, I understand your distress. I can't help but feel bad for you." His eyes now hardened. "But it is for her safety, yours, and in your best interest to not know where she is. I believe you should simply be happy with the idea that she is alive and well, Natsume."

I clenched my already tight fists. "Narumi-sensei, how am I supposed to know if she's well?! That's the entire point of this! How will she ever remember the most important part of her life if I don't remind her of it?"

He shook his head and uttered words that struck home base with a crack of the bat.

"You only think it's the most important part because you were in it, Natsume. I appreciate your concern, but I cannot do anything about this." He looked uncomfortable as he rubbed his temples and turned away. I muttered a few choice words under my breath and walked alongside the brick path outside, pushing the mob of teens chatting outside to the side and wiping the tears stinging my eyes. I climbed to the top of that tree and looked out over the grounds. I had seen this place with a different light there for awhile. You made it a place worth living.

I need that.

* * *

Thank you for reading my first multi-chapter fanfic! It might be a little sad for awhile but it will end alright, I can't really do sad-ending stories with my favorite couples.  
Optimist problems, eh? Pleaaaaaase review! I will feel driven to write more if I know people enjoy my story.


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